Although Supply chains are designed to be flexible and robust, they are still fragile and sensitive to volatility of demand. Such volatility may trigger On-Time Delivery (OTD) crises but, more importantly, can harm the relationships between customers and suppliers. Addressing these issues is not straightforward. The solution involves analysis of various factors including references, data, stakeholders, and “black boxes.” Such a vast set of information to analyze is a prime playing field for Smart Data!

During the annual Marcus Evans S&OP conference in Paris, Patrick Sage and Roberto Giso of CYLAD Consulting together with two supply chain experts from a European aerospace client company, presented a Demand Monitoring initiative. This initiative relies on Smart Data and aims at identifying instabilities in demand forecasts communicated to suppliers. It relies on specific metrics, processes, tools, and routines to:

As always, success relies on the human factor. Three elements distinctively contributed to the success of the project:

Shared understanding: metrics to measure instability are simple and shared within the whole organization

Awareness: all relevant functions are involved, not only supply chain

Adoption: the tools have been built and customized with and for the users, through iterative loops

Such a way of working has multiple business benefits: higher efficiency and agility of supply chain stakeholders, improved fluidity of relationships between suppliers and customers, and ultimately, improved delivery performance and reduced supply costs.